Bottle



Dec. 14, 1937. J. M. GUTHRIE 2,102,148

BOTTLE Filed, Dec. 2, 1935 Patented Dec. 14, 1937 UNITED STATES BOTTLE James M. Guthrie, Pittsburgh, Pa., assignor of one-third to Joseph G. Keaney, Mount Lebanon, Pa.

Application December 2, 1935, Serial No. 52,473

3 Claims.

once it has been opened. Notice is given of my co-pending application Serial No. 22,397, filed May 20, 1935, now Patent No. 2,045,388, dated June 23, 1936.

Several years ago the proposal was made of providing one or more frangible lugs integrally on the neck of a glass bottle, and so organizing a bottle closure or a closure keeper with such lugs that, in order to remove the closure and gain access to the contents of the bottle, the lugs must be fractured andbroken away in such manner as to leave the bottle permanently disfigured. A relatively recent patent-Patent No. 1,968,747- is illustrative of the general idea.

So far as I am aware none of the proposed structures has gone into generaluse, and one reason for this lies in the fact that no one has devised a form of lug that maybe properly provided on bottles in present day automatic bottle-making machinery. More particularly my invention lies in the discovery of how to provide the desired frangible lugs on bottles efficiently and at practically no greater cost than the cost of ordinary bottles.

When the hitherto proposed lugs were broken, to permit removal of the bottle closure, they left jagged, sharp teats or projections on the bottles. Manifestly, such jagged projections are dangerous to users. My invention further consists in the provision of a frangible lug on a bottle neck which, when broken, is adapted to leave a smooth edged, indented or conchoidal scar within the adjacent surfaces of the bottle, thereby eliminating or minimizing the danger alluded to. Other features and objects of the invention will be apparent in the ensuing specification.

In the accompanying drawing Fig. I is a fragmentary view, partly in side elevation and partly in vertical section, of a bottle provided in exemplary way with an integral frangible lug formed in accordance with the invention; Fig. II is a View inplan from above of the same; Fig. III is a view of the same, as viewed in side elevation from the right of Fig. I; Figs. IV and V arefragmentary views of the bottle, comparable with Figs. I and III, respectively, and illustrating the lug removed; and Figs. VI, VII, and VIII are fragmentary views of a bottle of modified shape embodying a lug in accordance with the invention; in Fig. VI the lug appears integral with the bottle in side elevation, and in Figs. VII and VIII the bottle appears with the lug removed.

Referring to Figs. I to III, the neck I of a glass bottle is shown provided with an integral, angularly extending lug 2 (two may be provided) for cooperation with a bottle cap or other type of closure (not shown). Other than as .hereinafter specified, the particular form or shape of 5 the bottle neck is not of particular moment, as concerns my present invention, and the particular sort of closure or bottle-sealing device employed, is not of prime concern; suffice it to say that a bottle closure of any known form (note 10 also the various forms disclosed in my above noted co-pending application), or of any of the many forms readily to be drawn from the minds of artisans, is so organized with the frangible lug (or lugs) 2 that the lug must be broken be- 15 fore the closure may be removed, or so far removed as to permit removal of the contents of the bottle. I have found that one lug 2-will ordinarily serve to the ends in View, and shall proceed with the understanding that more than one may be provided without departing from the invention described herein, and in exemplary way I have shown the bottlenecks in the drawing as each embodying below its mouth 3 a thread 4 for cooperating with a screw-type closure.

It will be understood that the usual bottle is made in at least two molding operations. Ordinarily, a bottle machine includes a shaping mold which receives an automaticaly measured gob of plastic glass, and under applied pressure (usually 30 pneumatic pressure) automatically shapes the gob into an intermediate form. From the shaping mold the intermediate form;- while the glass is still plastic, is introduced into a blow mold, and in such mold the glass is blown into the form 3. of' the desired bottle. The molds are separable, and are adapted to be opened and closed as need be during the operation. The blown bottle is removed from the blow mold and put through an annealing furnace. 'I have found it desirable, if not essential, to provide a substantial, if not a relatively great, body thickness of glass in the neck of the bottle in the region from whichthe lug 2 projects (note the body region la in the necks' shown in Figs. I and VIII), and for this reason I initially form the lug 2 in the shaping mold, it having been discovered that, when the lug is formed by the outward displacement of glass from the neck of the intermediate form introduced to the blow mold, there is a neck- Weakening concavity formed in the neck immediately inward of and adjacent to the lug. By virtue of the said heavy body of glass at the base of the lug, and by virtue of other particular features presently to be described, the tendency for the lug to crack and for the adjacent region of the bottle neck to check or crizzle, upon removal of the bottle from the molds, may be successfully eliminated.

In certain well-known types of automatic bottle machines the shaping molds each include a hinged, two-piece upper mold portion, called the ringmold, and a lower mold portion upon which the ringmold normally is assembled. And in accordance with usual practice the neck portions of the bottles being manufactured are shaped within the ringmold portion of the shaping mold.

I have discovered that, in manufacture of bottles of the sort to which this invention relates, best results are to be gained by employing this ringmold type of shaping mold, and by providing the lug-forming cavity on the parting line of the ringmold itself, opposite the hinged side thereon.

So much for the general aspects of the invention, which will be readily understood by those skilled in the art. Other and more specific factors have been found to be of importance in the successful practice of the invention under conditions existing in the industrial field.

I have discovered that the basal area of the lugs 2 must be relatively great (having the priorart structures in mind), and that relatively great draft must be provided in the lug cavity in the ringmold, to prevent the glass from hanging or sticking and to prevent the checking, crack ing, and crizzling, alluded to above.

Advantageously, I form lugs 2 of polygonal cross-section at their bases-the region of their angular mergence with the bottle necks. In this case each lug is shown to be substantially square at its base, with its top and bottom faces taper ing in opposite directions from a central ridge, as shown in Fig. III.

The length of the lug and the shape thereof outward of its base are not of controlling importance; of course, the shape must be of reasonable simplicity, and ordinarily the length should be kept within In this case the lug is shown to be of substantially uniform cross-sectional contour throughout its length, but manifestly it may be tapered from its base toward its outer end. Other things being equal, the area of the lug at its base is important, regardless of what cross-sectional outline the lug may take-round, hexagonal, etc. I have found that, in order to obtain satisfactory, practical results in manufacture of bottles of pint size and larger, the lug must be at least 9/ 1024 of a square inch in area at its base; that is, in the case of the square shape shown, the lug must be at least gen in cross-sectional area at its base or in the plane of meeting with the neck I, this being so, even though the feeding temperature of the glass be raised, so far as it may be, above its otherwise normal value. the lug is preferred,.say an area equal to the area of a square lug of x and even greater. In providing a lug of such basal area, the usual difficulty (encountered in the molding process) of the glass freezing on its way into the lug-forming cavity is eliminated. The desired fiow of a homogeneous body of glass into the lug-forming cavity of the shaping mold or ringmold is readily obtained. In still further refinement and elaboration of the prior art, I so mold the glass that the lug 2 merges in a sharp-cornered angle with the sin Figs. I and II. Andit may be noted that I am Actually, a larger basal area of able to obtain this desirable feature by virtue of the things already described.

I have discovered that a frangible glass lug formed on a bottle in the above-described manner (a lug having a relatively large basal area, and merging in a sharp-angled corner with the neck of the bottle) tends, in accordance with the objects of my invention, to break on a conchoidal plane, and when the ing is weakened in the manner described below fracture on such a plane within the body of the neck is insured. As shown in Figs. III and IV of the drawing, the lug 2, upon being struck a sharp blow, fractures on a conchoidal plane of cleavage 5; the conchoidal plane 5 lies within the body of the normal lugsupporting portion of the neck, and provides a concavity within the adjacent surface of the neck. Accordingly, a smooth scar or recess is permanently formed in the bottle neck, indicating that the bottle has been used. Furthermore, the peripheral edge of the scar is smooth, as

shown; there is no jagged or sharp projection left' on the bottle-and there is no danger of the user cutting himself. It will be understood that the prior-art lugs which leave sharp projections on the necks of the bottles from which they are detached permit of fraud. That is to say, the projections may be ground down to the surface of the neckyand the surface then glazed over in such manner that one would never know that the bottle had been provided with a lug. Of course, the indented conchoidal scar 5 prevents the practice of such fraud. Additionally, it appears that the indented scar 5 within the body of the neck causes the glass to crack when the bottle is introduced to the hot caustic solutions that are normally employed to cleanse and polish used bottles for reuse.

In my above-noted application for patent, I describe how the surface of the glass bottle may, advantageously, be provided with a surface scoring in the region of angular mergence of the lug with the bottle neck. I have found it essential to embody this feature of weakening the lug in the structure herein disclosed. The surface of the glass may be cut or scored in any of the corner regions s indicted. However, I prefer to score the glass on the top of the lug, that is, in the corner c where the top surface of the lug merges with the side surface of the bottle neck. The relatively large cross-sectional area of the lug at its base insures that the lug will normally be secured on the bottle against all but intentional fracturing blows and stresses. And the surface scoring cooperates with the features already described in forming the desired conchoidal cavity in the bottle neck, when the lug is fractured. It further appears that such surface scoring assists in the formation of such conchoidal fractures in lugs of smaller cross-sectional bases than those otherwise preferred.

A diamond or steel glass cutter, or better, the edge of a quarter-round file may be used to provide the surface scoring.

Figs. VI to VIII illustrate the embodiment of the invention in a bottle neck of modified shape, and will serve to indicate that many variations and modifications may be made without departing from the essence of the invention defined in the following claims. One thing more should be mentioned for the benefit of the art. If any tendency is noted for the lugs or the adjacent surfaces of the bottle necks to crack, check or crizzle during or after their annealing, it is recommended that the annealing temperature, particularly the annealing temperature at the top of the bottles, be raised, say ten or more degrees F.

I claim as my invention:

1. A glass bottle including a frangible lug integrally formed on its neck and extending angularly therefrom for cooperation with a closure element, said lug being substantially unconstricted in the immediate region of its base and forming with the surface of the bottle neck a clean unfilleted corner, and a surface scoring in the glass in said corner, whereby the lug, when fractured, breaks on a clean conchoidal surface lying within the surface of the normal lug-supporting body portion of said neck.

2. A glass bottle including a frangible lug integrally formed on its neckand extending angularly therefrom for cooperation with a closure element, said lug being at least 9/1024 of a square inch in cross-sectional area at its base and forming with the bottle neck a clean unfilleted corner, and said bottle, after it has been formed and as prepared for commerce with a saleable product, being scored insaid corner, whereby the lug, when fractured, ruptures on a conchoidal surface within the surface of the normal lugsupporting body portion of said neck.

3. A glass bottle including a frangible lug integrally formed on its neck and extending angularly therefrom for cooperation with a closure element, said lug being of polygonal cross-sectional shape at its base and in the immediate region of its base forming with the surface of the bottle neck a clean unfilleted corner, and a surface scoring in the glass in said corner, whereby the lug, when fractured, breaks on a clean conchoidal surface lying within the surface of the normal lug-supporting body portion of said neck.

JAMES M. GUTHRIE. 

